[coachteet]

I haven't changed mine at all. The purpose of the 2nd amendment was not to enable to overthrow the government but to prevent that from happening. Pretty big difference.

Completely ridiculous. As has been demonstrated and explained ad nauseum by myself and others in this very thread. I don't know why you cling to this belief, but in order to believe this, you have to disregard countless primary historical documents from "Common Sense" through "The Federalist Papers". You would also have to ignore the historical context that brought the American colonies to a war with their sovereign. There is no logical way to come to your conclusion except through ignorance.

All this discussion over what an assault rifle is sounds foolish to someone who knows perfectly well how quickly they can be fired. If you don't know, find someone who has one and just see how fast you can empty the magazine. That discussion is up there with the magazine/clip discussions. And another thing, your arguments would go down a little smoother with the non-believers if you toned down your mention of tyrannical governments and rebellion.

You're right-- having a discussion over what an "assault rifle" is most certainly IS a foolish conversation, because "assault rifle" is a made up term. It was made up to trick ignorant people into thinking an AR15 is an M16. Any semi automatic rifle can fire multiple rounds rapidly, as fast as you can pull the trigger. It doesn't make it a full auto rifle because you paint it black and put a pistol grip on it. What you are apparently upset about really indicates you have a problem with magazine capacity, not evil black rifles.

One of the basic problems here is that the simple fact that some crazy people who are not bank robbers or thieves in the night are killing people by the dozen and that fact is being ignored. The fact that there have been killings in schools bothers some people. Yes, we could have policemen in those schools (who would probably be the first to be shot and some schools have them anyway), if you don't mind a police state.

No one is ignoring mass shootings. The Newtown massacre affected every American. We all want schools to be safe places for our children. How to prevent school shootings from happening is a common goal on both sides of the argument.

You do understand that Connecticut has an assault weapons ban in place, right? They require background checks, 14 day waiting period for gun purchases, handgun registry, and you have to complete a handgun safety course to buy a handgun. None of these things prevented Newtown. You shrug off having a police officer/ armed guard present, because apparently he is only good as cannon fodder from that all-powerful "assault weapon". This characterizes these school shooters as battle-tested warriors, instead of the cowards they actually are. The simple presence of an armed guard at a school would serve to deter people from attempting a school shooting. And those who weren't would be further deterred once the return fire started. The fact that guards aren't currently present in MOST of our schools are what makes the death tolls so devastating. Shooters know that schools are "gun-free zones", extremely soft targets.

Enhanced security measures, including an armed guard would make our schools safer. Banning "assault weapons" would do nothing, as was made clear in Newtown.